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Subagent-Driven Development (SADD) SOP

Subagent-Driven Development (SADD) is a methodology for parallelizing complex tasks across specialized autonomous AI agents with isolated context boundaries. This Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) formalizes how we spawn, review, and merge subagent work at Zero-Shot Agency.

1. When to Spawn Subagents

Subagents should be instantiated for tasks that are: - Highly Parallelizable: Tasks with minimal shared state, such as researching different concepts simultaneously. - Deeply Specialized: Tasks requiring extensive reasoning in an isolated domain (e.g., deep code refactoring, system architecture design). - Context Heavy: Tasks that would flood the primary orchestrator's context window.

Do NOT use subagents for minor mechanical tasks, single file patches, or trivial tool usage. Use direct CLI tools or scripts.

Task authority is workflow-specific. Use the approved chat brief for direct work, .hermes/sprints.md for active strategic scope, and Hermes Kanban for multi-stage execution. Treat a GitHub issue as authoritative only when it has been explicitly selected and scoped; an open issue is not automatic permission to execute it.

2. Handling Context Boundaries

  • Strict Isolation: Subagents have no memory of the overarching conversation. The orchestrator must provide absolute file paths, detailed error messages, and explicit constraints.
  • Verification over Trust: Subagents self-report their completion. The orchestrator must manually verify side-effects (e.g., checking if a file was written, reading back its contents) before proceeding.
  • Timeboxing: Avoid long-running subagents. If a task is durable, use the cronjob or background flags instead of delegate_task.

3. Subagent Review Processes

All subagent output must undergo a strict review process by the orchestrator: - The Visual Diff Check: Run git diff against subagent changes. Look out for duplicate lines, unintended deletions, or malformed syntax. - The Scope Check: Run git status to ensure untracked files or hidden agent directories (e.g., .entire/) haven't been picked up. - The Syntax Check: Run native syntax validators on any code modified by the subagent (e.g., python -m py_compile or bash -n).

4. Git Branch Management

Zero-Shot Agency enforces strict Git protocols to maintain codebase integrity.

  • No Main Commits: Never commit directly to the main branch.
  • Branching Convention: Use a scoped prefix such as docs/[name], feat/[name], fix/[name], or chore/[name] that reflects the change.
  • PRs Only: All repository changes must be merged through Pull Requests. The orchestrator or assigned ops worker opens the PR after verifying the payload; a human operator decides whether to merge it.
  • Zero-Blind-Commit: Agents must never commit or push blindly. Stage exact file paths, inspect the staged diff, run relevant validators, and verify the branch and PR payload before reporting completion.